Plants Flashcards
What is rubisco?
a protein in leaves that fixes carbon in the Calvin Cycle
What are the unique features of plants?
cell walls, large vacuoles, chloroplasts, plasmodesmata, polyploidy, and self-fertilization (possible but not preferred)
Process of Making Transgenic Plants
- Ti plasmid
- Insert foreign DNA (transgene) into plasmid > recombinant plasmid
- Introduce into Agrobacterium tumefaciens bacteria
- Add Agrobacterium into petri dish of plant shoot apices
- Transform
- Transfer shoots into rooting medium
- Transfer to soil
Why does making transgenic plants work so well?
The infection with Agrobacterium is efficient and entire plants of many species can be regenerated from calli tissues which is totipotent
Examples of transgenic plants that improve nutritional traits
- rice that is rich in beta-carotene
- cassava that is enriched w/ protein, iron, beta-carotene, and NO cyanide
- edible cotton seeds (low levels of gossypol toxin)
Example of transgenic plants that improve the environmental adaptations of plants
tomatoes that are salt tolerant in salty soil
What are secondary metabolites?
-special chemicals that are not used for cellular metabolism
-may attract pollinators or repel/poison predators
-stored in vacuoles
Examples of secondary metabolites in plants
-morphine > poppy
-caffeine > coffee
-cocaine > cocoa plant
-nicotine > tobacco
What secondary metabolite is in willow tress?
salicylic acid
What is salicylic acid?
a defense molecule produced by willow trees and is similar to the active ingredient of aspirin
What is its role in willow trees?
-resistance to pathogens (viruses)
-a hormone to signal unexposed areas of a plant that an infection is underway
Plant Growth Hormones
-Abscisic acid (ABA)
-Auxins
-Brassinosteroids
-Cytokinins
-Ethylene
-Gibberellins
What is ethylene?
a gas that acts as a plant hormone, promotes leaf abscission and fruit ripening, causes an increase in its own production
What can you do to quicken ripening?
Add ethylene to storage chambers
What can you do to delay ripening?
Use ethylene scrubbers and absorbents that remove ethylene from the atmosphere in fruit storage chambers